Opinion & Analysis
Carry on: Tour caddies make the right move in organizing APTC
So this is what happens when they cancel the caddie races. Many of the most high-profile caddies in professional golf, as well as members of the rank and file, have banded together to form the Association of Professional Tour Caddies (APTC) in order to create both a unified voice and lobby.
Now, before you say, “These guys get paid hundred of thousands of dollars to carry a bag,” it’s important to remember that professional caddies do much more than merely hand a player his/her club; they are vital to the success of professional golfers.
One of the best brief summaries of the roles caddie play beyond charting courses, giving yardages, and carrying bags was written by Larry Dorman in the New York Times during the course of the Tiger Woods-Steve Williams split:
“[Caddies] are traffic cops, psychiatrists and meteorologists. They are chauffeurs, butlers, and bodyguards, buddies, sidekicks and frequent dinner companions. When things get really tough, they are guard dogs, attack dogs.”
The “dogs” are often not treated with the same level of respect by tournament hosts and venues as players.
At The Barclays, according to APTC President James Edmondson, the following occurred during a rain delay:
“A security guy came in, started berating us, asking to see everyone’s ID, and then began kicking out our families into the rain. We all thought, ‘Would they ever do this to the players in their area?’ That’s when we decided to have a meeting.”
The result of that meeting, attended by half of the caddies looping in New York that week: a unanimous vote to become an association. The group hired the law firm of Barlow, Garsek & Simon to represent them and established a board of caddies, which includes Tiger Woods’ caddie, Joe LaCava.
As Christian Dennie, an attorney for the caddies said:
The caddies play an instrumental role in the success of tour players and the success of professional golf. In an effort to further their profession, caddies have united to provide more information about their role in professional golf and obtain group benefits that will allow them to have retirement accounts and health care like many Americans who watch golf each week.
Standard pay for a caddie on the PGA Tour is a $1,000 a week plus 5-to-10 percent of a player’s winnings. Sure, if you’re Joe LaCava, Steve Williams, Fluff Cowan, or Bones Mackay, maybe you’re making close to seven figures. But what if you’re carrying a bag for Ken Duke, 50th on the PGA Tour money list at $1,722,583, making 5-to-10 percent of that number plus $1000 a week? Or Casey Wittenberg, 150th on the money list at $425,395?
Carrying a bag on tour beats the proverbial burger flipping from a financial point of view to be sure, but what of benefits, health insurance, retirement accounts, etc? As caddies aren’t formally employed by the Tour, they aren’t recipients of standard benefits afforded to employees of a large, immensely profitable organization.
It’s appropriate to remember, too, that prior to Walter Hagen’s 1920 Open Championship dressing-in-his-limousine stunt (and the succeeding U.S. Open), touring pros weren’t even permitted to change in the host club’s locker room. Beyond this specific formal barrier, the men placing pegs in the ground were generally treated more like traveling circus performers than revered athletes.
The PGA Tour itself—which, among many other things, contributed to reversing the above—was only formed in the late 1960 as money from television contracts began to pour into the pockets of the PGA of America. It was at this point that those entertaining Americans on the fairways collectively stood up and said they felt they ought to rewarded appropriately for their efforts.
Professional caddies are faced with a similar situation today: needing to formally legitimize a profession that has evolved and become quite legitimate in significant ways but hasn’t in equally significant others.
Long gone are the days of a pro picking the local caddie from the pit to schlep his bag for the week. It’s time for professional tour caddies to be appropriately organized and represented, and the APTC is the right move.
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The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.
TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.
Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.
However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.
Past Winners at TPC Louisiana
- 2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
- 2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
- 2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
- 2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
- 2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
- 2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)
2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks
Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)
Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.
This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.
McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.
Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)
Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.
Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.
Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)
Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.
NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.
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After having four of the top twelve players on the leaderboard at The Masters, LIV Golf is set for their fifth event of the season: LIV Adelaide.
For both LIV fans and golf fans in Australia, LIV Adelaide is one of the most anticipated events of the year. With 35,000 people expected to attend each day of the tournament, the Grange Golf Club will be crawling with fans who are passionate about the sport of golf. The 12th hole, better known as “the watering hole”, is sure to have the rowdiest of the fans cheering after a long day of drinking some Leishman Lager.
The Grange Golf Club is a par-72 that measures 6,946 yards. The course features minimal resistance, as golfers went extremely low last season. In 2023, Talor Gooch shot consecutive rounds of 62 on Thursday and Friday, giving himself a gigantic cushion heading into championship Sunday. Things got tight for a while, but in the end, the Oklahoma State product was able to hold off The Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri for a three-shot victory.
The Four Aces won the team competition with the Range Goats finishing second.
*All Images Courtesy of LIV Golf*
Past Winners at LIV Adelaide
- 2023: Talor Gooch (-19)
Stat Leaders Through LIV Miami
Green in Regulation
- Richard Bland
- Jon Rahm
- Paul Casey
Fairways Hit
- Abraham Ancer
- Graeme McDowell
- Henrik Stenson
Driving Distance
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Joaquin Niemann
- Dean Burmester
Putting
- Cameron Smith
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Matt Jones
2024 LIV Adelaide Picks
Cameron Smith +1400 (DraftKings)
When I pulled up the odds for LIV Adelaide, I was more than a little surprised to see multiple golfers listed ahead of Cameron Smith on the betting board. A few starts ago, Cam finished runner-up at LIV Hong Kong, which is a golf course that absolutely suits his eye. Augusta National in another course that Smith could roll out of bed and finish in the top-ten at, and he did so two weeks ago at The Masters, finishing T6.
At Augusta, he gained strokes on the field on approach, off the tee (slightly), and of course, around the green and putting. Smith able to get in the mix at a major championship despite coming into the week feeling under the weather tells me that his game is once again rounding into form.
The Grange Golf Club is another course that undoubtedly suits the Australian. Smith is obviously incredibly comfortable playing in front of the Aussie faithful and has won three Australian PGA Championship’s. The course is very short and will allow Smith to play conservative off the tee, mitigating his most glaring weakness. With birdies available all over the golf course, there’s a chance the event turns into a putting contest, and there’s no one on the planet I’d rather have in one of those than Cam Smith.
Louis Oosthuizen +2200 (DraftKings)
Louis Oosthuizen has simply been one of the best players on LIV in the 2024 seas0n. The South African has finished in the top-10 on the LIV leaderboard in three of his five starts, with his best coming in Jeddah, where he finished T2. Perhaps more impressively, Oosthuizen finished T7 at LIV Miami, which took place at Doral’s “Blue Monster”, an absolutely massive golf course. Given that Louis is on the shorter side in terms of distance off the tee, his ability to play well in Miami shows how dialed he is with the irons this season.
In addition to the LIV finishes, Oosthuizen won back-to-back starts on the DP World Tour in December at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Mauritus Open. He also finished runner-up at the end of February in the International Series Oman. The 41-year-old has been one of the most consistent performers of 2024, regardless of tour.
For the season, Louis ranks 4th on LIV in birdies made, T9 in fairways hit and first in putting. He ranks 32nd in driving distance, but that won’t be an issue at this short course. Last season, he finished T11 at the event, but was in decent position going into the final round but fell back after shooting 70 while the rest of the field went low. This season, Oosthuizen comes into the event in peak form, and the course should be a perfect fit for his smooth swing and hot putter this week.
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Of all the clubs in our bags, wedges are almost always the simplest in construction and, therefore, the easiest to analyze what might make one work differently from another if you know what to look for.
Wedges are a lot less mysterious than drivers, of course, as the major brands are working with a lot of “pixie dust” inside these modern marvels. That’s carrying over more to irons now, with so many new models featuring internal multi-material technologies, and almost all of them having a “badge” or insert in the back to allow more complex graphics while hiding the actual distribution of mass.
But when it comes to wedges, most on the market today are still single pieces of molded steel, either cast or forged into that shape. So, if you look closely at where the mass is distributed, it’s pretty clear how that wedge is going to perform.
To start, because of their wider soles, the majority of the mass of almost any wedge is along the bottom third of the clubhead. So, the best wedge shots are always those hit between the 2nd and 5th grooves so that more mass is directly behind that impact. Elite tour professionals practice incessantly to learn to do that consistently, wearing out a spot about the size of a penny right there. If impact moves higher than that, the face is dramatically thinner, so smash factor is compromised significantly, which reduces the overall distance the ball will fly.
Every one of us, tour players included, knows that maddening shot that we feel a bit high on the face and it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not your fault.
If your wedges show a wear pattern the size of a silver dollar, and centered above the 3rd or 4th groove, you are not getting anywhere near the same performance from shot to shot. Robot testing proves impact even two to three grooves higher in the face can cause distance loss of up to 35 to 55 feet with modern ‘tour design’ wedges.
In addition, as impact moves above the center of mass, the golf club principle of gear effect causes the ball to fly higher with less spin. Think of modern drivers for a minute. The “holy grail” of driving is high launch and low spin, and the driver engineers are pulling out all stops to get the mass as low in the clubhead as possible to optimize this combination.
Where is all the mass in your wedges? Low. So, disregarding the higher lofts, wedges “want” to launch the ball high with low spin – exactly the opposite of what good wedge play requires penetrating ball flight with high spin.
While almost all major brand wedges have begun putting a tiny bit more thickness in the top portion of the clubhead, conventional and modern ‘tour design’ wedges perform pretty much like they always have. Elite players learn to hit those crisp, spinny penetrating wedge shots by spending lots of practice time learning to consistently make contact low in the face.
So, what about grooves and face texture?
Grooves on any club can only do so much, and no one has any material advantage here. The USGA tightly defines what we manufacturers can do with grooves and face texture, and modern manufacturing techniques allow all of us to push those limits ever closer. And we all do. End of story.
Then there’s the topic of bounce and grinds, the most complex and confusing part of the wedge formula. Many top brands offer a complex array of sole configurations, all of them admittedly specialized to a particular kind of lie or turf conditions, and/or a particular divot pattern.
But if you don’t play the same turf all the time, and make the same size divot on every swing, how would you ever figure this out?
The only way is to take any wedge you are considering and play it a few rounds, hitting all the shots you face and observing the results. There’s simply no other way.
So, hopefully this will inspire a lively conversation in our comments section, and I’ll chime in to answer any questions you might have.
And next week, I’ll dive into the rest of the wedge formula. Yes, shafts, grips and specifications are essential, too.
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Albert Sewill
Nov 20, 2013 at 9:22 am
It was only a matter of time before this happened! The modern caddy is very under-appreciated.
What a stupid I am!
Nov 13, 2013 at 10:42 pm
From Golf Digest’s September 2012 issue:
A FEW PROS make the tour an all-day, everyday job. For all the money in the world I couldn’t work for Vijay Singh. It would drive me crazy to stand there and watch a guy hit 7,000 golf balls a day–I couldn’t have watched Ben Hogan hit 7,000 golf balls a day. Paul Tesori is a former tour player who worked for Vijay until Vijay called him one Christmas morning to see if he wanted to meet at the range. Paul said working 366 days a year was a bit much. He’s now working closely with Webb Simpson.
http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2012-09/mark-long-stories#ixzz2kaUtNCS5
jeev
Nov 11, 2013 at 11:21 am
Mods! I see a politically charged post that should be edited/removed!
snowman0157
Nov 10, 2013 at 4:54 pm
ok, no offense.. it is low-skilled labor. So if they choose to caddie, travel a lot, work on commission and pay their own expenses, for 50K / yr gross, god bless ’em. They probably like the lifestyle. If not, get another skill and stay home. Nobody owes nobody a certain standard of living.
Enabler
Nov 8, 2013 at 4:10 pm
Caddy can make a huge impact on the performance of the player. The role of the touring caddy is much like coaching and staff for other sports. Anyone who travels 30 weeks a year no matter the perks sacrifices traditional life relationships with children and family. The PGA should evaluate the situation and offer up recognition to the profession and their role in the tour. Appears it is another example of squeaky wheel gets oil… This organization should help the profession. It is past time the members of the PGA recognizes the touring caddy significance to this sport.
AJ
Nov 8, 2013 at 9:33 am
Just a fairly amusing note regarding caddies – one of the guys at my club (Scottish fella) is good mates with Alistair McLean, tour caddie to Colin Montgomerie for a number of years.
Regarding the ‘hiring and firing’ process, Alistair recently worked for Henrik Stenson (post Monty, after Fanny retired) and effectively ‘sacked’ Stenson because he wasn’t playing well enough.
Safe to say a couple of years after that sacking, he regrets the move!
CWA
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:04 pm
CWA!!!!!
Mike M
Nov 7, 2013 at 8:07 pm
I think this is great for the caddies, its going to help them a lot with their careers. i don’t think its right that ernie els has a caddie becomes friends with dan quinn and then drops his regular caddie… contracts contracts contracts !
rB
Nov 11, 2013 at 6:52 pm
AJ, I have known EE for 20 years and RR during that span..
… there is aLOT more to their history than Ernie meeting DQ.!!
Sometimes change is a good thing..
Unbelievable!
Nov 7, 2013 at 7:41 pm
There are MASSIVE amounts of people who work WAY harder for a lot less. All of you guys saying 50,000 a year isn’t a lot of money… It’s about 900 a week….
That’s 22.50 an hour for a 40 hour job.
50,000 is probably above average pay for entry level management in most major corporations….
That’s average pay for Electricians… Plumbers… Framers…
It’s more than most Teachers, Fireman, Police Officers… Public Defenders and Prosecuters…
Poor, sad, underpaid little caddie….
It’s great they banded together to help improve their lives… Bravo… It truly is needed and deserved… However… Stop complaining about the money…. You know what that is…
Pathetic.
Bobcat43
Nov 8, 2013 at 8:44 pm
I for one wouldn’t want to be on the road for 25-30+ weeks a year for $50k and deal with a Tour Pro’s every whim. When I was fresh out of college I was making far more than that for being on the road that much (back in the 90’s, and it wasn’t management). But obviously someone wants that job. And someone always will want that job.
But I will say that if Bones, Fluff or (insert any tour caddy) decide to price themselves out of the market. That’s their decision. I don’t watch professional golf to see them huck a bag and pitch grass in the air. Not to belittle their job, but someone will do their job and those great players will still be great.
And I cannot stress this point enough… the PGA TOUR is the players (not their caddies). Joe Lacava may be cool but he’s not the “Golden Goose”. Will Tiger have to cross a picket line on the first tee? No.
When a minority share partner tries to force the majority share partner to act, it will go poorly for the minority share partner. Frankly, below average tour caddies just like below average tour players should make less less (relatively speaking). It keeps the ranks fresh and the competition strong.
john flavia
Nov 7, 2013 at 4:06 pm
This has started me thinking in another way.
The touring pro’s have it pretty good, I’ve read how their retirement packages are second to none, certainly the NFL, NBA, MLB doesn’t even compare (something like $10,000 gets added to their retirement accounts for every tournament they make the cut?). The PGA just announced they have raised the PGA Championship purse to $10 mill, the most of any tournament/major and has recently been boasting about $1 billion for charity raised. So you’re telling me that you have done nothing in all this time for the working man of the industry, the caddy?, to improve them?
Wyatt
Nov 9, 2013 at 8:25 am
They work more then 40hour a week. Plus has to pay all of their own expenses… You guys do not know the facts unless you are in the profession. Quit JUDGING. The PGA DOES NOTHING for the caddies at all no retirement either… The player if “vested” will retire a millionaire because they get money from the PGA… No where does the caddies get any of this…
Ralph
Nov 7, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Ah the dark side of professional golf. Good for them for trying to improve their lot in life.
Professional golfers are independent contractors. Just as the caddies ultimately are. One can fire the other at a moments notice with no forewarning.
They’d better be careful for what they wish.
I foresee the day when local yokels once again come back into the caddy game. The day will come when the pro tours allow GPS and lasers during play. Might be a while.
Bobcat43
Nov 7, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Real quick… Are these guys forced into this job? Seems to me that schlepping a bag for Casey Whittenburg for $48k/yr is a crappy job. But I don’t think Casey puts a gun to anyone’s head either. But that’s my opinion there maybe someone who would do that job for free.
So either find a better player, negotiate better or just find a better job. As for the issues with kicking family members out into the rain. I’m sure that can be fixed or maybe there is another side to the story. Not sure we need to call in Richard Trumka.
Oh and health benefits! Really are you guys serious? Our Gov’t has already fixed that problem! Just like everything it will be free for all of us! (insert sarcastic smiley here)
So if being a Tour Caddy is such a crappy job why the heck would anyone ever do it?
GolferX
Nov 7, 2013 at 1:15 pm
I think its a great step forward for the caddies; there is an awful lot of money being made on the PGA Tour and its time for the caddies to get some security. However, that begs the question, who pays? If they get benefits, who pays? The Tour? That particular caddie’s player?
What happens when your player retires or moves on? What about the other Tours? We will have to see how this shakes out.
Fairways and Greens, my friends.
Double Mocha Man
Nov 7, 2013 at 12:10 pm
When I was a caddie I made a whopping $10 a bag and scored a Snickers candy bar at the turn if I was lucky.
Jon
Nov 7, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Congrats, Mocha Man. That’s quite a bit for someone who wants somebody to feel sorry for them.
Eric
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:56 am
breaking down the numbers.
Ken Duke – 28 events, $1,722,583.73 in winnings in 2013
Ken Duke’s caddie (if $1K per week, 5% for any winnings, 7% of top 10, and 10% for a win) – $172,377.14
Take into account that he is on the road 28 weeks a year on his own dime which probably cost him $30K-$40. That means his takehome is about $135K before taxes. Yes, this is still a lot of money, but not for the top 50 in his profession for the year. And $135K is nowhere near a “fortune”.
Ken
Nov 7, 2013 at 12:30 pm
I think you are forgetting about one crucial item…endorsements
john flavia
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:51 am
Also, when you make your calculations, remember most tour players probably only play 25 tournaments = 25 weeks, so if you use the Casey Whittenburg as the example: 2013 season = 27 tournaments & $425,395 in winnings, so at $1,000/week + 5% = $27,000 + $21,270 = 48,270.
The question of ‘who pays for caddy’s expenses’? will be a big part in determining if that is a decent salary for caddy for a low ranking tour player or not.
Wyatt
Nov 9, 2013 at 8:31 am
Caddies are responsible for all their own expenses. Ie: flight, hotel, food, car, gas… Etc… They are also responsible for their own insurance.. Ie: single plan $250-$500, family $500-$2000 A MONTH! Again know your facts quite speculating.
Zak Kozuchowski
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:46 am
Don’t forget the costs, guys. Just like tour players, caddies pay their own travel expenses.
Evan
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:41 am
I completely agree with David here. If you are Ken Duke’s Caddy and making the lower 5%, you are still clearing $100k/year. if its 10%, go ahead and bump that to around $200k a year.
David
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:34 am
“Standard pay for a caddie on the PGA Tour is a $1,000 a week plus 5-to-10 percent of a player’s winnings. Sure, if you’re Joe LaCava, Steve Williams, Fluff Cowan, or Bones Mackay, maybe you’re making close to seven figures. But what if you’re carrying a bag for Ken Duke, 50th on the PGA Tour money list at $1,722,583, making 5-to-10 percent of that number plus $1000 a week? ”
I don’t understand the question… that’s an absolute FORTUNE.
john flavia
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:45 am
Do caddies pay for their own expenses out of their weekly/winnings-percentage? OR is that additionally compt’d by the player? If they have to pay for their travel/hotel/food accomodations, then that can eat up most, if not all of the $1,000, unless they are sleeping in shared rooms, etc, and eating minimal meals at fast food joints, imo.
When I go to my annual meetings (4-day trip), even when I try to keep expenses down by staying in the not-so-hottest of hotels, try not to eat fancy dinners, I can’t seem to get away with less than ~$1,200 or so in expenses, including airfare.
Chris
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:52 am
They normally pay out of pocket. It helps if they have friends in different cities. My buddy stays with me when he comes to town. I can’t tell you how pumped he is to save that few hundred plus have a laundry machine at his disposal. I think he did about 6 loads when he came in a few months ago.
Wyatt
Nov 9, 2013 at 8:32 am
Yes they are responsible for all their own expenses… Airfare, hotel, food, car, gas, etc….
Chris
Nov 7, 2013 at 11:48 am
You’re completely neglecting the fact that they have to use that money to pay rent wherever they live plus the hotels/motels that they stay at 7 days a week when on the road. Factor in gas (keeping in mind that tourney’s tend to not be that close to the previous one), food and occasional airfare. They’re not making a fortune unless your pro is. They’re on the road all the time. My friend has been a caddie on tour for the past 3+ years. They had to go to web.com playoffs to keep their card. He talked to caddies there (the web.com loopers) and realized that he had it pretty good. Those guys make nothing. They split rooms and/or sleeping in cars some of the time.
Jay
Nov 7, 2013 at 12:35 pm
A general rule of thumb is that a private contractor bills out at about 3X what a salaried individual would make in the same role. This is due to differences in tax laws, holiday pay, sick time, ease of termination and numerous other issues. ALso, as he will work in 20+ states during the year he can look forward to a 500+ page tax return.
SO if you take Ken Dukes caddy at the mid range of the $100-$200k and say $150k, then that is the equivalent of $50k annually. In reality not very good pay for some one who is traveling 30 weeks out of the year.